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Pamela Terry, 40, allegedly posed as an employee of the Federal Reserve Bank and fraudulently promised 30-year business loans to about 15 customers at a fixed rate of 2.3 percent interest, according to a court affidavit.
She collected about $2 million in advance fees she called "minimum capital requirement," the affidavit said, and she allegedly spent tens of thousands of dollars at stores like Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
Federal agents arrested Terry on Friday afternoon at a hotel in West Hollywood after she was charged with one count of wire fraud last month, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
She could face up to 30 years in federal prison if convicted, the statement said.
Between 2007 and 2009, Terry scammed at least 15 people, the affidavit said.
She allegedly told her victims that she could secure loans for them without standard documentation because she worked directly with the head underwriter for the Federal Reserve Bank, the affidavit said.
None of the customers received their loans or had their advance payments returned, the affidavit said.
Terry allegedly told one customer the delay in the funding of a $20 million loan was caused by the failure of IndyMac Bank, the affidavit said.
Then, the $600,000 up-front payment related to the loan was reportedly transferred to an account that Terry controlled. Within about a month, tens of thousands of dollars had been withdrawn as cash or used to pay retailers such as Nordstrom, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Chanel, according to the affidavit and the statement.
On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia Rosenberg ordered her to be held without bail because she was a flight risk, said Thom Mrozek, public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Terry is scheduled to return to federal court for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 28 and for an arraignment on Jan. 4, Mrozek said.
